Disclaimer- I do not own anything of Young Justice except my OC's.
From Author- Thank you to those who reviewed and added this story to your favorites! I'm happy to see this story is already getting popular and only on the first chapter! So, thank you all again. I won't talk much so here's chapter 2!
It was dark in my mind. I can't quite explain what it's like. It's different when you simply fall asleep but when you're knocked unconscious, it feels different. It just seems more….dangerous when you're knocked unconscious because you don't know what state your body will be in once you regain consciousness.
Wake up, young hero. You and the others are needed and are in danger.
Wait, who was that? Talking to me…in my mind?
Please, you must wake up before it's too late. Wake up now!
Almost as if a jolt of electricity hit my body, my body responded by snapping my eyes open. I gazed around. I was in a pod, similar to the one Superboy was in except this pod was attached to the wall, halfway up. Metal rings trapped my wrists and ankles, preventing me from moving much. I couldn't use my powers when my hands were bound like this.
"Tempest, you alright?" Kid Flash asked from next to me. I looked to my left to see him in his own pod, bound as well. Next to him on his left was Aqualad, also bound. To my right was Robin, bound like the rest of us.
"I'm alright." I assured my friends and then noticed we weren't the only ones in the room. I turned my attention to the other person in the room, Superboy, who was just standing there, staring at us from about ten feet away.
"What's he doing here?" Kid Flash snapped. My head whipped over to him.
"K.F., if I wasn't chained up right now, I'd kick you. Don't speak to him like that." I scolded.
"Hey! He attacked us!"
"I do believe he wasn't in full control of what he was doing…am I right?" Aqualad asked, turning the last question to Superboy. The clone looked down for a moment and then, with the slightest bit of motion from his head, nodded.
"I…I don't think I was…in control." He muttered, shocking us. So, he can talk.
"What other things have the genomorphs taught you?" Aqualad asked. Superboy looked back up at us.
"Many things: to read, to write….showed me images of things in this world." He explained.
"Just images? They never let you see the real things?" Robin asked and Superboy shook his head.
"What about who you are? Did they tell you that?" I asked. This time, Superboy nodded.
"I am the clone of Superman. I was created to take over for him if he dies…or kill him if he becomes evil." He answered which shocked all of us.
"That's very honorable of you to be like Superman but, down here, you won't have much choice for a life. If you help us, we can show you real things in this world…and introduce you to Superman." Aqualad said to him. Superboy looked up at him in shock and awe at this proposition.
"I don't think so," A voice came to our ears as the doors opened, revealing Guardian, that man-like genomorph with the big horns, two scientists and a few of those little gnomes.
"Get the weapon back to his pod, now!" The male scientist said. Guardian went to escort Superboy out but Superboy backed away from him. Then, one of the little gnomes jumped onto Superboy's shoulder and his horns glowed. Then, the clone followed orders and walked out of the room.
"He's not a weapon! He deserves to have a life!" I shouted at the scientist but he just ignored me.
"Begin the cloning process and when you're done extracting their DNA, kill them." The male scientist said to the others. Then, this mechanism came up in front of me and the boys. It opened up, showing four separate needles and then, stabbed straight into our chests. I screamed from the impact but screamed even more when these shockwaves went through my body. The pain was excruciating, almost unbearable.
A few minutes later, however, the door to the room burst open, damaging other parts of the room which, in turn, turned off the needles electrocuting us. I sighed in relief as the currents stopped but still felt a little prickling pain because the needles were still jabbed in my chest.
Superboy easily pushed away the others in the room. By that time, Robin had uncuffed himself and jumped down, holding his wrists. Then, he jumped right back up on my pod and uncuffed me while Superboy freed Kid Flash and Aqualad.
My arms felt a little stiff when I first jumped down but, they quickly loosened up. As we left the room, Robin threw a few explosives at the pods holding our DNA, causing them to explode.
We ran down the hallways back towards the elevator, our current destination since we were miles below the surface. But, halfway to our escape route, those gorilla-like genomorphs came around the corner in the nearby side hallways, causing us to stop before we crashed into them. Then, the little egg-like things attached to the walls opened up, bringing out more of the genomorphs. They surrounded us. Perfect.
"No time to fight, we need to get to that elevator." Aqualad said as we all jumped around and avoided the genomorphs but Superboy had other plans. He began attacking them.
"Superboy, stop! If you keep this up, you'll cause the ceiling to crash down on us!" I cried to him over his screams of fury and numerous punches. Then, he threw one of the genomorphs at two others, knocking them down.
We all headed to the elevator and Aqualad pried the door open. Robin zip-lined up, carrying me with him while Superboy grabbed Kid Flash and Aqualad and began flying up behind us. But then, he started to fall. Robin, thinking quickly, tossed one of his birdarangs at the wall by them and Aqualad grabbed onto it. Kid Flash dropped onto a small ledge-like part sticking out of the wall by them.
"I can't fly…." Superboy muttered as Robin zip-lined the both of us back down to where the others were. I put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright, Superboy." I assured him while Aqualad kicked open the elevator door by him. Just in time too, the elevator was coming down towards us so we had no choice but to go on the floor we were on. We were on SL-15 so we still had a good number of floors to get out of here. But, with the genomorphs behind us, we had to find another way up.
Speaking of genomorphs….
"This way!" Superboy said and we followed him down the hallway. We ran down a few more hallways, continuing to follow the clone but then we hit a dead end with only a ventilation opening on the wall.
"Great! Dead end!" Kid Flash said, throwing his hands in the air. Robin, however, found this an opportunity. We all climbed into the vent and crawled our way through.
"Ow! KF, would you quit shoving?" I whipped my head around to hiss at the young speedster. He adjusted the goggles on his head.
"Sorry but this isn't exactly the fast lane to escape out of here." He said. I rolled my eyes and continued crawling as Robin explained he had an idea to buy us some time. When we exited the vent, he hacked a nearby computer and hacked the motion sensors and cameras in the building so that the Cadmus people wouldn't be able to track us…for now, at least.
"Alright, this way." Aqualad said as we went through a door nearby that ended up being a stairwell. Kid Flash ran up ahead, knocking down about a half dozen of the smaller genomorphs in our path while we followed behind. I could hear more of the creatures behind us but Superboy was already on it. He kicked part of the stairwell off, causing the creatures to fall below.
We ran up the rest of the way but then, an alarm sounded, closing up a doorway down the hallway on the top floor. Kid Flash couldn't react in time and ended up slamming into the door. I ran over to help him up while Superboy and Aqualad tried prying open the door.
"I don't have time to hack this…" Robin said, glancing behind him to see more of the giant genomorphs coming towards us. Then, I noticed a side door.
"Over here." I called to them, kicking open the door and running through. The others followed behind me but, we didn't get far. Down the hall were a bunch of the giant genomorphs, the smaller ones and the gnomes along with Guardian and that man-like genomorph. The genomorphs that were following us came up behind us. We prepared to fight but then, something strange happened. No one hit me but, I felt like someone did, making my vision go black for probably about a minute or so before I opened my eyes again.
When I did, the others were also coming to, except Superboy, who was already standing and seemed to be having a conversation with the genomorph that knocked us out. No words were exchanged so they must have been having a telepathic conversation. Then, Superboy declared that he wished to be human and be free.
Meanwhile, Guardian seemed to come to his senses because the gnomes no longer manipulated his thoughts. He looked over at us after he took a moment to clear his thoughts.
"Get out of here, you guys. I'll take care of Desmond." He said but then, the scientist, I'm guessing was Desmond, appeared behind him.
"None of you will leave here alive. Not while I have Project Blockbuster with me." He said, holding up a vile of light blue liquid. Then, he drank the stuff and slowly, began to change form. I stepped back and watched in horror as his skin was pushed out, being ripped off his body while a new flesh body was created underneath, giving him a more monstrous and grotesque look. Pieces of his skin still lingered on his body and he growled at us when his transformation was complete.
Guardian went to attack him but Desmond swatted him away like a fly. Superboy then charged him, giving a few punches and receiving a few. Then, Desmond grabbed him and burst through the ceiling to the topmost floor, back on the surface.
"He gives a new definition to the term mad scientist." Kid Flash said as he and Robin zip-lined up to the floor after the two. Aqualad helped me up to the floor as we watched Superboy get thrown onto the floor right next to us by Desmond.
When he got back up, Kid Flash ran at Desmond, distracting him long enough for Superboy and Aqualad to punch him in the face, knocking him down. Then, Robin and I double teamed him. He threw a few explosives at him but Desmond shoved them aside while I attacked him with fireballs. Some made contact but then, he backhanded me, making me fly into one of the nearby pillars in the building.
When I regained my composure, I saw both Superboy and Aqualad get tossed around by Desmond. Kid Flash sped over to help but ended being crashed into a wall by the monstrosity. Quickly, I made my flames in the form of a rope and tied it around Desmond's neck, pulling with all my strength. He let out what sounded like a mix between a snarl and a choke as he staggered but still kept his balance.
He went to grab at the ropes around his neck but I made them disappear, changing them into whips and cracking them at his back and head. He growled as he charged at me. I tried whipping him again but he pushed them away like nothing and continued to come at me. He went to punch me but at the last second, I made a small firewall to protect my face. The impact of the punch still sent me reeling but it lessened the damage.
Before Desmond could punch me again, Superboy stepped in front and began attacking him. Then, Aqualad came after him as well and the two double-team him. Even so, that seemed to do hardly any damage to him. Still, I did my best to help them but ended up being flung into a wall….again.
"Tempest, over here!" Robin called to me once I stopped seeing stars. I ran over and he began showing me, Aqualad and Superboy a plan to take down Desmond. We had to demolish the supporting pillars in the building. Kid Flash was busy distracting the monster and making him demolish the pillars by himself without him realizing.
Anyway, I helped the boys destroy the other pillars. Then, Aqualad poured water on the ground nearby. Kid Flash ran through the water, skidding to a halt while Desmond followed. Once the redhead was out of harm's way, Aqualad used his electricity to zap the monster and knock him out.
"Move, now!" Robin cried as we all ran for the exit. I heard three explosions behind me, most likely due to Robin's explosives discs. With the last of the pillars gone, the building started crashing down on us. We couldn't make it to the door so Superboy pulled me and Kid Flash under him while Aqualad shielded Robin as best he could.
After a minute or so of remaining completely still and waiting out the rest of the crashing building, Superboy pushed through the rubble and we emerged, tattered and beat up, but alive. My top had a big tear on the side and my skirt had some huge holes in it here and there.
"We're…alive…" I panted, holding my injured side. I was definitely going to be sore for a few days. We stepped out of the rubble and back onto solid ground. We barely managed to speak another word to each other when suddenly Superman, followed by the rest of the Justice League, came over.
Superboy showed himself to Superman and explained who he was. Everyone looked shocked but Superman looked the most surprised. Batman demanded to know what happened and we explained to them, in detail, what happened down below.
"Give us a moment to think this over." Batman said as he walked over with the others. Superman kept glancing over at us, most likely at Superboy, but quickly turned away. He then came over to us.
"The League will help you get you on your feet. But, right now, I better help the others with that creature." He said, flying off to help the Green Lanterns take care of Desmond. Superboy looked downcast as he glared at the ground. I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He looked at me and I smiled at him. Then, Batman, Flash, Aquaman and Andromeda came over to us.
"Cadmus will be searched but as for the rest of you…" Batman was cut off by Andromeda.
"We're very disappointed in all of you." But, as she said it, her gaze was directed at me. I rubbed my arm nervously and looked down.
"Yes, she is right. And, because of your rash actions, none of you will be doing any of this again." Batman scolded. I looked back up at my teammates who had disagreement written all over their faces.
"I'm sorry Batman but you're wrong." Aqualad said. His mentor reproached him but Aqualad stood firm.
"This is exactly what we've been trained for." He said.
"And we're proud of the results. We saved Superboy's life and took down a dangerous villain." I added.
"If you wouldn't allow us to do this then why train us at all?" Robin asked Batman who just narrowed his eyes at him for a moment.
"We're a team…" Kid Flash started.
"And we intend to stay that way." Superboy ended. Our mentors stayed silent, thinking this over.
"Give me three days and then we'll decide." Batman finally said and then, we were escorted to the Hall of Justice's hospital wing to have our wounds tended to. Afterwards, Mother and I used the zeta tubes to go back home. When I got home and lay down, I realized just how tired I was and collapsed on my bed, falling asleep the moment I shut my eyes.
Three days later, we all got together at Mount Justice. Batman explained this will be the new home for the team. We would be handling covert missions, which Batman himself will provide. Red Tornado ended up being our "den mother" and Black Canary was our training instructor. That wasn't all. We also got a new team member.
"This is Miss Martian, Martian Manhunter's niece." Batman introduced as a green skinned girl with shoulder length red hair came in beside her uncle. We all went over to introduce ourselves while Kid Flash began flirting with the poor girl.
"Geez, KF, don't scare the girl off so early." I joked as he shot me a small glare, making me laugh.
Well, we finally got what we wanted. A real team and we would be going on real missions. Today is a good day, that's for sure.
From Author- Alright, there's the end of chapter 2! I hope you all liked this one. I know the first two chapters were more…introductory but don't worry, the others will come out and will have my own ideas mixed in. And, believe me, I got some ideas that you guys will love! Please review!